


The Secrets We Love to Share

by notaguitarfret



Series: "They're all girlfriends" AU [24]
Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Period-Typical Homophobia, Underage Drinking, heather chandler and veronica make bad decisions when drunk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22366678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notaguitarfret/pseuds/notaguitarfret
Summary: If Chandler and Veronica could stop being so fucking gay in front of everyone, maybe Mac could stop worrying so much during her eighteenth birthday party.
Relationships: Heather Chandler/Heather McNamara, Heather Chandler/Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer, Heather Chandler/Veronica Sawyer, Heather Duke/Heather McNamara, Heather McNamara/Veronica Sawyer
Series: "They're all girlfriends" AU [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1053590
Comments: 13
Kudos: 207





	The Secrets We Love to Share

“...And that is a summary of my love life so far,” Veronica finished. She looked around the group, who had all fallen completely silent.

“Okay, so,” Betty eventually spoke, clapping her hands. “How did you manage to get not one, but _two_ girlfriends, while I can’t even drop hints to the person who I like?”

Veronica forced her gaze to not flicker over to Martha, who sat right next to her. She just shrugged.

“I don’t know. I left out a lot of details because so much of it is personal to the Heathers and honestly kind of heavy, and we don’t need that right now.” She looked around the room that was currently full of unpacked belongings, all of which might not fit in the pretty cramped room. Unfortunately, it was all Betty had.

They’d spent the afternoon arranging the harder things for JD - mainly with his pet tanks and getting clothes washed. Everything that had belonged on a shelf, however, still remained in its bag or box. Not only did the group get lazy after spending an hour sorting stuff out, but JD was also beginning to panic about the possibility of his father looking for him. It was a good thing Martha made such good brownies to soothe his nerves.

“Wait, you like someone?” Martha chipped in curiously.

“Uhh… when don’t I,” Betty replied. Smooth, Betty. Smooth.

Holding back a snicker, Veronica took it upon herself to change the topic.

“Also, I know we just returned from a whole evening with the Heathers,” she began, and Betty groaned.

“Oh no. I don’t like this already.”

“I can only take so much Heather Chandler in one day,” JD added, nibbling a brownie. Veronica rolled her eyes.

“Chill, this is for _next_ week,” she said. “Also, technically it’s been a day since you’ve seen her.”

JD stared at her blankly. “Uh-huh.”

“ _Buuut_ , as you know, my birthday is next Friday, and as you’ll also know, Friday nights are a _very_ popular choice for teen parties-”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Me neither.”

“Why would we know that, Veronica.”

Veronica blinked. “Well now you do.” She smiled hopefully. “Therefore, you can imagine the Heathers are putting something together for me, as well as Mara, since her birthday was last Saturday.”

“Ooh! Joint birthday party!” Martha said happily. “That’s okay, we can always make plans over the weekend instead!”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I’ll probably have some work to do anyway,” Betty said.

“I’m trying to find a job to apply to,” JD added.

“Oh, no, I’m not saying I won’t be free!” Veronica said. “I’m inviting you. All of you!”

Three pairs of eyes deadpanned at her for a few silent moments. Then, she saw Martha grimace.

“Is… that a good idea?” she said quietly. Immediately Veronica caught on what had caused her discomfort, and she shuffled towards her.

“Hey,” she said in a soft tone, placing one hand over hers. “This won’t be like last time. This is _my_ party, technically! Besides,” she smiled reassuringly, “like I said, I’m dating two of the Heathers. I already don’t let them talk shit about you - any of you - behind your backs. They won’t try anything.”

Martha still didn’t look convinced. “Even if they don’t… what about everyone else?” She stared at her. “This party’s going to be very similar to the rest of them, right? The same people will be invited.”

Veronica frowned. She couldn’t argue with that.

“You don’t have to come,” she murmured. “I get it if any of you are uncomfortable.”

She glanced at Betty and JD, who were exchanging curious looks. Then Betty spoke.

“Would it be so bad if we all went together?” she asked. “At least then we’d have each other, _and_ a mode of transport home if we need to leave early.” She nudged JD’s arm. “It’s your birthday party, Ronnie. I don’t think we should miss it.” She turned to Martha with a sympathetic gaze. “But again, you don’t have to go. JD and I can just go instead.”

Martha gazed back at her thoughtfully, then offered a smile to Veronica, who smiled back hopefully.

“I can give it a shot,” she said. “So long as we don’t split apart or anything.”

“Never.” Betty grinned and hooked and arm around her, and Martha giggled. How she didn’t see Betty’s very obvious blush, Veronica had no idea. Who knows, maybe after spending so much time pining and being pined after had made her extra observant when it came to infatuations.

“Great!” she said excitedly. “I can’t wait.” Then she raised a brow. “But are you sure you have a mode of transport? I doubt all three of you could fit on JD’s motorcycle.”

Betty just laughed. “Oh, you’ll see.” She patted Veronica’s shoulder.

“It’ll be great.”

* * *

“How long do you think it’ll take for Heather to notice?” Veronica asked, looking at herself in the mirror, sticking her tongue out. Mara snickered.

“Probably in a drunken makeout session,” she said. “But even then I don’t know if she’ll notice. I think she’ll be far too horny to care.”

“You act like she gets horny easily.”

“Yeah,” Mara said, finishing up her winged eyeliner in the bathroom mirror. “You know I turned her on in math the other day through signing?”

Veronica burst out laughing, and just as she did, the door to the bathroom opened. She glanced behind her, still laughing uncontrollably, and saw none other than Heather Chandler standing there.

“Are you two almost do-” she paused. “What’s so funny?”

“You got _turned on_ through _sign language!_ ”

A bright red colour radiated on her cheeks, and she shot an infuriated glare at Mara.

“Mac!” She growled to herself. “It’s not even that funny! How do you think deaf people seduce each other?”

“I know, I know, it’s just-” Veronica snorted. “I’m imagining you getting flustered in a completely silent classroom without a word being said to you.”

Chandler gave a huff. “That’s why we sign in class, yeah.”

“I wish I could have seen that! Just you getting that adorable little blush for seemingly no reason!” She pointed at her face and continued to giggle, while Chandler just groaned, walked forward, and grabbed Veronica by the shoulders to straighten her up.

“ _Speaking_ of which,” she said, changing the topic. “I need to talk to both of you about something.”

Veronica managed to calm down and stood next to Mara to listen in.

“Every party we’ve been to in the past few weeks, at least one of us has stayed sober due to us needing rides home and whatnot.” She inhaled deeply. “Since this is at my house tonight though, it’s possible we’re all gonna get wasted, and…” She bit her lip. “We need to be extra careful. It could end up so that none of us are sober enough to… um…”

“Be straight?” Mara guessed.

“Yeah. That.”

“Don’t worry,” Veronica assured her. “Even drunken us would know not to do anything stupid.”

“Yeah… you’re right.” Chandler took in a deep breath, as though she were calming herself. Who was she kidding, that’s _exactly_ what she was doing. “Nothing bad will happen.”

“We’ll all make sure of that!” Mara reassured, hopping forward and leaning upwards to give Chandler a peck on the nose. Her nose scrunched up and the corners of her lips curled, and Veronica could only giggle and place her own kiss on her cheek.

“We’ll be fine, now stop worrying.” She gave her a light shove. “Besides, if any of us got too… _explicit_ , we can easily pass it up as party tricks or whatever.”

“You make a good point,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Kurt and Ram would definitely appreciate finding me pinned up against a wall by one of you in a hot makeout session.” She clicked her tongue. “I should write myself a note to remind me of that.”

“I’m sure that isn’t necessary,” Veronica said. “We don’t lose _all_ common sense when we’re drunk."

“That’s debatable.” She then turned around and made her way towards the door. “Now, are you two ready yet? We need to put the alcohol out.’

Veronica gave one last glance to the mirror to look at her own reflection. She was wearing her black top and light blue skirt with several frilled ends, along with the navy hair accessory that Mara had bought her weeks ago; a flower looking as though it bloomed from her hair that was neatly curled on the ends, with some tucked behind her ears. Everything looked fine.

“Yep,” she said.

“I’ll finish up my eyeliner and I’ll be down,” Mara said. Veronica gave her a thumbs up, before leaving her in the bathroom to eagerly go downstairs to wait by the window in search for her guests.

* * *

“Oh my God, I didn’t think they would say _yes_ ,” Chandler groaned from behind her. Veronica could only bounce excitedly as she stared outside, watching the motorcycle pull up across the dimly lit street outside. With the help of the street lights, Veronica could also catch the silhouette of a sidecar attached to the motorcycle’s side, and from the looks of it, Martha had been sitting in it, with JD driving and Betty having held him by the waist just behind him.

“Who?” Mara asked. When Veronica turned around, she saw her trying to peak over both of their shoulders, but to no avail.

“Well, as it’s _my_ eighteenth today, I thought it would be appropriate to invite some friends I’ve known for much longer than any of you,” Veronica said.

“You’ve known JD for two months less than you’ve known us,” Chandler muttered, crossing her arms.

“Beside the point,” Veronica shot back, before being cut off by a distant,

“ _What?_ ”

Around the corner of the front room appeared Duke, glaring at her with disbelief.

“You _invited_ them?” She gaped at her.

“It’s my party, I get to decide who comes.”

“It’s her party too!” Duke retorted, pointed at Mara.

“Actually, I’m okay with it,” she said with a shrug. “They’re fine.”

Duke frowned. “Every time we say ‘let’s never interact again’ to them, they fucking show up again. They’re impossible to get rid of.”

“Good, they’re my friends,” Veronica said.

“Friends who are gonna ruin the credibility of this party,” she heard Chandler mutter, clearly to herself. Unfortunately for her, Veronica heard her loud and clear, and snapped her head towards her.

“Credibility? Really?”

Chandler shrugged. “They’re not your average party guests.”

“So what? You’ve invited Martha before.”

“In fairness, that was for a joke,” Mara chipped. When Veronica shot her a glare, she held up her hands defensively. “I’m not saying that’s a _good_ thing!”

“Look, if anyone asks, just say _I_ invited them,” Veronica sighed, turning to Chandler. She wasn’t in the mood for getting into an argument just before the party. “Because it’s the truth. There, your reputation remains as solid as ever.”

Chandler raised a brow, but said nothing more. It was for the best, since the doorbell rang soon after.

“I’ll get it, I guess,” Duke sighed from the corridor, before disappearing as she walked over to the front porch. Veronica’s mood was suddenly lifted with the newfound excitement, and she skipped over to the doorway of the living room to greet her guests.

“First door to the right,” she heard Duke say with a flat tone, before glancing over in Veronica’s direction. “Where Veronica is.”

Walking past her was her three friends. Martha gave Duke a friendly smile as she passed her, though she got very little response beyond Duke pursing her lips for a brief moment, as if it were meant to be a welcoming smile. Betty just gave her a nod, Duke returned the gesture. JD did nothing.

“Hi, Veronica!” Martha greeted in her chippy tone. She waved back, and the first thing that Veronica noticed was that her friends had actually put effort into their appearances. She had mostly expected them to come in their usual get-ups, but in front of her stood Martha with a pink, flowing, flowery, long-sleeved top and a patterned orange skirt that looked similar to autumn leaves, along with her hair that was styled in a way that looked similar to a crown made out of a thick braid, with loose curly hair flowing behind it. Veronica decided to take it as a good omen.

“Martha! You look amazing,” Veronica said, still in awe. “You never dress up for things!”

“It’s your birthday, I figured I should put in an effort.” She ran a finger over her braid. “Do you like it?”

“I love it!”

Veronica then turned her attention to Betty, who was… not in a party outfit by any means, but definitely had made an effort. Her clothes were more darker than usual, with her signature leather jackets being the only thing that hadn’t changed. Her shirt was black and had shredded ends, with a pentagram logo on the front. Her jeans were ripped and held up by a studded belt, and her eye makeup was dark and sharp. At least her hair was mostly normal, just with more volume and sharp ends.

‘You… went all out, huh?” she said, eyeing her outfit. Betty shrugged.

“This is what I would wear all the time if school weren’t so intimidated by this look.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“I mean the staff, not the students.”

“Ah.”

She then glanced at JD. Nothing was different.

 _Oh, wait, he has a bowtie._ She blinked at his neck. _Kinda blends in with his trenchcoat though._

“Happy birthday. What’s gonna be your first 18+ purchase?” he said, stopping in front of her. “I predict a double-ended dildo.”

“ _JD!_ ” Veronica scolded, covering Martha’s ears. “Not in front of Martha.” She then lowered her voice. “That’s a good idea though. I’ll talk to Heather about it.”

“I can hear you,” Martha said. Veronica pursed her lips and removed her hands.

“So… snacks are in here.” She guided them into the front room, where the three Heathers had all gathered. They stood by the couch, with Chandler leaning against it as she eyed the group as they walked in.

“You three are early,” she commented.

“Hello to you too,” Betty said. “And we figured coming early would give us more quiet time with Veronica.”

“Good idea!” Mara chipped. “It’ll probably get pretty wild in here. Oh! And Martha,” she turned towards her, “I left a bottle of sparkling cider in the kitchen for you. I imagined you wouldn’t be drinking.”

Veronica looked at her with surprise, while Martha offered a thankful smile.

“Oh, that’s very sweet! Thank you.” She nudged Betty and whispered, “See, she’s not so bad.”

“I can tolerate her. Maybe one day I’ll forgive her for being rich,” Betty replied. Veronica would have chuckled at her reply, but was too busy staring at Chandler, whose eyes seemed to be focused a bit too heavily on JD. There was something unreadable in her expression, but before she knew it, she had turned away.

“So… is it appropriate to bring out the presents, or should we wait until later?” JD asked.

“We’ll have guests coming real soon,” Chandler warned. “I don’t think you’ll want any interruptions.”

Duke then let out a sigh. “She’s making excuses. Just go in the music room. Veronica, you know where that is.”

Veronica grinned at her and nodded. “I do indeed. Thank you, Heather.”

When she turned around to face JD again, she saw he was suddenly holding a bag, full of wrapped up gifts. She blinked.

“Where did you-” she shook her head. “Whatever. Music room!”

* * *

As expected, as soon as it hit ten minutes before their scheduled time, cars outside were beginning to pull up, headlights making their way into the front window as they passed. Chandler gazed outside, leaning forward on the couch to try and see who would be first.

“My bets is that Kurt and Ram are first,” Duke commented next to her. “As usual.”

“Mhmm. I think you’re right, that looks like Ram’s car.”

“You mean his _dad’s_ car.”

“Yeah. Same difference.” Sure enough, the two figures who stepped out of the front were indeed the bulky figures of Kurt and Ram, followed by two effeminate figures stepping out of the back. “Looks like they brought a plus one each,” she said, squinting.

“Good, maybe they’ll be too busy with them to bother us,” Duke said.

“I doubt that.”

“Hey, Heather!” Veronica’s voice returning all of a sudden made her stand up straight and look back to the doorway. “I hope you don’t mind, I went upstairs and hid the presents in your room so no one would break them.” It was then Heather realised she had one hand behind her back. “But I also wanted to show you this one.”

Then she pulled it out for her to see. Her whole body grew hot.

“Betty got me it. Isn’t it great?” Her tone sounded calm, but her face was clearly holding back the urge to burst out laughing.

“I-” Heather stammered.

“Aw, I knew you’d appreciate it.” Veronica grinned at the dildo she held in her hand, along with the harness that dangled from her grip. “I’m sure we’ll put it to great use.”

“ _Mhmm? We will?_ ” She cursed the blood that was rushing to her cheeks faster than she could finish her sentence as she continued to stare at the toy in her hand. She was somewhat aware of Veronica’s friends having accumulated around the front of the living room, mainly due to hearing Betty snickering to herself in the background. Had she not found herself so flustered, she would have snapped at all three of them for daring to find any humour in this at all.

“I’m sure we will,” Veronica said with a flirtatious smile, one that made Heather’s breathing hitch.

“Heather.”

She hardly heard Duke say her name. Her brain was far too distracted by-

“Heather, we have more guests.”

“Huh?”

Breaking herself out of her trance, she glanced at the doorway and listened out for footsteps. Sure enough, people were letting themselves into her porch. Specifically, _Kurt and Ram_ were making their way into her porch.

“Oh.” Veronica’s smile fell and she froze. “I should have taken it upstairs.”

“Yeah! _Maybe!_ ” Heather hissed, trying to avert her gaze from the toy to avoid getting any more _ideas_. Luckily, but also very, very unfortunately, she had something else to distract her.

“It’s party time!” Kurt yelled as he made his way into the room. “Hey, ‘Rrrronica!”

Veronica’s face had grown pale.

“Uh… hey, Ram.”

“I’m Kurt.”

“Hey, Kurt.” She pressed the toy against her chest, hopefully out of sight from the boy behind her. Suddenly intrigued, Heather rested her hip against the couch and folded her arms, smirking at the terrified expression on Veronica’s face. She spotted the subtly raised middle finger Veronica gave her, which only made her laugh more.

“You wanna… turn around and see what you’re missing?” he asked. Not that she was missing much; Kurt and Ram basically wore the same clothes to every party. Tonight was no different.

“Uhhh…” Veronica bit her lip anxiously as she stared at the toys.

“Come on! You’re missing the show.” He stopped just behind her and reached out to her shoulder. It was then that Heather considered actually stepping in to save her from humiliation, but fortunately, Veronica was quick to act. Scrunching up the harness with the dildo in one hand, she stretched out her skirt, as well as what Heather could assume were her boxers, and shoved them inside.

Unable to hold in her amusement any longer, Heather turned away and looked at Duke as her snickers began to tumble out of her mouth. Duke, having watched the whole thing happen, just stared at Veronica’s crotch blankly, also biting back any giggles she herself may have.

“Oh. Yeah. Nice outfit, I guess.” Veronica finally turned around and eyed him up and down, offering Kurt an unimpressed expression.

“Oh, hey,” Ram spoke up, walking over to Kurt. “Looks like we have some extra company.”

He gestured over to the corner of the room, where Veronica’s group had huddled together in a tight formation, barely visible in the shadows of the walls.

“Wow, they actually _dared_ to show their faces here?” Kurt laughed. “I’ll give them that.”

“Hey,” Veronica interrupted, shooting them both a stern glare. “I was the one who invited them here, so don’t even think of giving them any shit tonight.” She gave Kurt a small shove, pushing him away from her. “I can easily end tonight for you to earlier than the rest of us. The same will go for anyone else who tries to pull anything.”

Both Kurt and Ram lowered their heads and nodded reluctantly, before sauntering off to go and explore the wonders of the beverage table. While the scene had been entertaining, usually Heather would have found some admiration, even attraction in Veronica’s dominance.

However, right now, she was covering her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from bursting out laughing in front of everyone.

“Why are you _still_ laughing?” Veronica shot her an accusing glare. Heather snorted.

“So often I enjoy you telling Kurt and Ram off. It’s kinda hot.” She took a deep breath and eyed her up and down. “But knowing what’s in your pants right now kinda ruined the effect for me.”

Veronica rolled her eyes, her nose scrunching up.

“Doesn’t mean you’ll never find this thing on my crotch hot,” she muttered. “Now… I gotta go put it in your room. I’ll be back.”

Heather batted her lashes at her as she watched her go, her walk slightly awkward with her thighs pressed closer together, likely to stop anything from dropping onto the floor. Once she was out of sight, Heather turned back to Duke.

“Is Mac still in the kitchen?” she asked.

“Yeah, she was checking on the cake.”

“I hope the alcohol she put in it didn’t ruin it.”

“I’m sure it’s fine.” Duke glanced over her shoulder as some lights from outside flashed in and out the room. “Looks like the party is about to liven up. More guests are arriving.”

“Well then, that’s my cue to have my first drink,” she announced, making her way towards the beverage table, where Kurt and Ram were weaving their hands through the alcohol choices, along with the mixers. “Care to join me?”

Duke shrugged. “Might as well.”

* * *

“What are you making?”

Heather flinched at the sound of Martha’s voice having materialised out of nowhere. She whipped her head around and saw her standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

“Oh, just some cake,” she replied, licking a dollop of buttercream off her finger.

“Neat! What type?”

“Red velvet,” she said, stepping aside so that Martha could have a good view of the dark red cake with half covered in white icing. “It took a while to bake though. I feel like I’m missing half the party.” She went silent to listen out for the music blaring in the other room, bass thundering through the walls and teenagers yelling and laughing.

“It’s only been half an hour. Or forty-five minutes?”

“The latter.”

“Even so, don’t these parties last a while?”

“True.” She dipped her knife into the bowl of icing. “But to speed it up, would you like to help me?”

“Yes please! I did just need some water, though. It’s what I came here for.”

“Whatever you do, don’t use the fancy glasses,” Mac warned, turning around to watch her open a cabinet and pick out one of the closest glasses to her.

“They all look fancy,” she said, hesitantly placing the glass on the counter.

“Nah. That one’s fine.”

“Thank you!”

Once the water was poured and Martha had taken a sip, she grabbed a knife from the drawer and scooped up a good hunk of icing, beginning from the opposite end.

“Have you found a plant for your plant pot yet?” Heather asked. Martha nodded.

“I put a sedum plant in it! You know, the jelly bean ones?”

“I love those!”

“Me too!” Martha then sniffed. “Also, this cake smells delicious.”

Heather grimaced. “It has alcohol in it. Will that bother you?”“Will I get drunk?”

Heather shrugged. “I doubt it.”

“Then it’ll be fine! I think. I don’t know if I’ll like the taste of alcohol.”

“Don’t start with vodka,” Heather warned. “That’ll burn your throat.”

“Oh, it’s okay. I don’t plan on drinking at all. It seems daunting.”

“Then… I recommend sticking to the side lines of this party,” she said. “For your own good, I mean.”

Martha chuckled. “That’s what I was planning on doing.”

“Good plan! Steering clear of literally everything is a thing you should definitely do.” She smiled warmly, just as another pair of footsteps could be heard growing closer to the kitchen. She glanced at the entrance and was met with the slightly dazed gaze from Duke, who was swaying just a little bit, a red cup in hand. She was smiling at her, though that smile did falter for a moment when she saw who was in the room with her. The frown she gave her was brief, however.

“Hey, Emmy, you’ve hardly shown yourself tonight! You should come out and play beer pong with us.”

“But I’m baking!”

“It’s okay!” Martha reassured, nudging her towards Duke. “I can finish icing the cake. You go have fun!”“Are you sure?” Heather frowned. “I feel bad leaving you to do a task that wasn’t yours in the first place.”

“I like baking! You know this. Besides,” she looked around the kitchen, “it’s quiet in here. I needed a little break from the noise.”

“Hm. If you’re sure.” Heather quickly rinsed her hands and backed away, not turning around until Martha gave her one last thumbs up and a smile. Feeling reassured that she, as well as the cake, would be fine, she turned around and skipped along with Duke, whose walk was a little imbalanced.

“You’re already drunk?” she asked.

“Tipsy,” Duke corrected, giving her a slight shove. “I’ve drunk nowhere near as much as Veronica and Heather.”

Heather opened her mouth to ask her to elaborate, but Duke simply continued.

“Were you two _bonding_ back there?” She gave a suspicious glimpse back to the kitchen.

“Yeah! Martha’s actually very sweet,” Heather said. “It’s a shame you two aren’t friends anymo-”

“ _Ssshhh!_ ” Duke stopped in the hallway and slammed her hands over her mouth. “Not so loud!”

“But there’s no one around,” she said, voice muffled by her palms.

“Still, don’t take any risks. You never know who’s around the corner, eavesdropping. Especially with us.” Duke removed her hands and slowly began to walk again, glancing around the dimly lit corridor. “There are countless people here who would just _love_ to pick up any gossip they can find about us.”

“Right.”

Soon enough, they had returned to the front room, where the loud chatter and music crashed into her like a violent wave in a storm. Though the impact was strong, she had to admit, it did give her energy a boost. Her pace sped up so that she would skip ahead of Duke as she searched the room for Veronica and Chandler, and it didn’t take her long.

They weren’t in the front room, but rather the room next to it; a smaller room with many bookshelves and desks pushed up against the walls, all to make room for the larger table in the centre, as well as the small crowd that had formed around it. Most notably, Veronica’s two other friends were sitting on some chairs behind them, watching the commotion happen.

“I am just saying, it would be entertaining!” she could hear Kurt talking as she pushed through the other students. “The bottom of the barrel vs the top of the food chain!”

“Hey, uh, _first of all_ ,” Heather could now hear and see Veronica, who leaned over the corner of the desk to glare at him. Her stance was a little wobbly. “They’re not the bottom of the barrel. They’re my friends.”

“Well, you know what I mean.”

“In fairness,” Chandler said. “I can see his point.”

“Thank you, Heather!” Kurt said. “See?”

Veronica rolled her eyes, which caused them to land on her and Duke. She shot off the desk and smiled.

“Mara! You’re here.”

“Geez, could you stop abandoning us for your cake?” Chandler asked, leaning over to her, looking at her through her long, dark lashes. “Aren’t we sweet enough for you?”

The question, along with Chandler batting her lashes at her, made Heather let out the tiniest of squeaks, one that hopefully no one heard. It was unlikely with how loud it was.

“I’m here now!” she said, moving the conversation along. “Were we gonna play beer pong?”

“Yeah, we’re deciding teams,” Veronica said, crossing her arms as she gave Kurt a challenging stare. “Apparently, we’re doing my friends vs my friends.”

“Oh?” Heather tilted her head to catch another glance from JD and Betty, who were just calmly watching the dialogue play out before them.

“I think that could be entertaining,” Duke said.

“Me too,” Chandler added.

Veronica sighed. “Okay, okay. I’ll give the audience what the want.” She then side-stepped away from Chandler. “But that means making the teams fair, so I’m returning to my roots.” She looked over to JD and Betty, who stood up on cue.

“But it feels so _empty_ without you,” Chandler whined, reaching out towards her and pouting. Seeing the slightly clingy gesture made Heather panic a little, with how many eyes were watching her, and so she darted forward and pushed her arm down.

“It’s okay! She’s not leaving forever.”

Chandler gave a disgruntled huff as the crowd began to arrange half-full cups on both ends of the table. “I guess.”

“You and your group are going _down_ , V,” Duke called. Veronica pulled tongues at her.

“We’re all tall. We can see where to bounce the ball,” she retorted with a smirk. Duke gasped, hand on her chest as it heaved.

“ _Fuck you,_ I am _so_ beating you for that.”

“Good luck.” Veronica flipped her off.

The two teams patiently waited for the cups to be arranged, which took very little time. Veronica’s group moved to the other end, allowing both opposing groups to stare each other down. As expected, Chandler was the first one to be handed a ball.

Heather and Duke both stepped back to give her some room to swing her arm properly, and while the crowd around them were chanting her name excitedly, full of faith that she’d win, Heather couldn’t be so sure. Her footing was shifting a lot as her body swayed from side to side, and she could only imagine that her arm wasn’t the most stable either.

So when the ping pong ball bounced off to the side, not even landing on the table, she couldn’t honestly join in with everyone else’s disappointment.

“Fuck,” Chandler hissed.

“ _Ha!_ My turn!” Veronica cackled, stepping forward. Someone handed her the ball, and after giving it a quick wipe against her clothes, she threw it.

She did manage to keep it in a straight line, but she threw the ball way too hard, and after it bounced, it flew right over the Heathers’ heads.

“ _Nice_ one, Sawyer,” Chandler snarked.

“ _You’re_ a nice one,” Veronica retorted. Wasn’t exactly a great ‘insult’.

“Thanks.”

“Okay, um, my turn?” Heather quickly offered, holding out her hand for the ball. Duke picked it up, scrubbed it against her dress in a rough manner, then dropped it into her palm.

She lined herself up, careful with where she held her hand. After some calculating the distance between her and the cups, she tossed the ball with just the right amount of force. It bounced where she had planned, and she watched as it fell into the middle cup with a satisfying _plop_.

“Loser crew, you’re up!” Ram called from the crowd, stepping forward and grabbing the middle cup. “Who’s first?”

“I actually shouldn’t, I need to drive us home,” JD said. “But also, water exists.”

“Jason, _no_ ,” Veronica scolded, but before she could say much more, he’d took hold of the cup and swigged it down. It was gone in seconds. Quite impressive.

“Okay, now give me the ball,” he said, holding out his hand. The ball was indeed handed to him, and he seemingly cared not for the alcohol dripping off of it and onto his palm. Gross, that would be _sticky_ later.

JD then stepped forward, angled his arm, then threw the ball. It bounced into the cup sitting in front of the rest.

“Get fucked,” he said dryly. Heather saw Chandler roll her eyes, before picking up the drink and chugging it down. As her head tilted up with each gulp, her stance tilted sideways. When she finished drinking, her balance was caught off guard, and she stumbled to the side, almost bumping into Heather, had she not been ready to catch her and push her back into a stable position.

“Okay. Heather, you’re up.” Chandler handed the ball to Duke. “Don’t fuck this up. I want to take them _down_ .”

“At least take me to dinner first,” Veronica snarked with a flirtatious wink. A wink that filled Heather with sudden dread. She froze up for a moment, eyes darting around the room in a panicked manner, expecting there to be confused and accusatory murmurs.

Instead, she was met with playful whoops and laughter. She breathed out, relieved.

 _It’s fine,_ she told herself. _No one suspects anything. They wouldn’t be dumb enough to do anything that would make them suspicious anyway. It’s fine._

And yet, as she stared at the drunken teens cheer as Duke landed another cup in her very sober mind, her head replayed the conversation she, Veronica and Chandler had shared earlier.

_Do they know what they’re doing?_

Her gaze flickered back and forth between Chandler and Veronica, who would both occasionally stop to exchange sultry smirks or flutter their lashes to one another, all in a way that could be interpreted as teasing, as all part of a game.

But it was _very_ difficult for Heather to view those looks as that and _only_ that. She hoped to God she was the only one who was having that problem.

“I’ll take the next drink,” she announced, stepping closer to the table, trying her best to focus on the ball and nothing else happening around her.

But as more drinks were shared throughout the game, it only got harder.

* * *

“Ha! We won!” Veronica cheered from across the table, throwing her hands up in victory. “We beat the Heathers, guys! Good game!”

She held her hands out for high fives, which JD and Betty both eagerly returned. Chandler scowled at the group.

“Don’t get too smug. It was only by one.” She eyed the remaining cup on their end of the table. “You just got _lucky_.”

“Say whatever you need to make you feel better,” Veronica teased.

“Do we get a prize, or is the prize just being smug about beating the Heathers?” Betty asked.

“The latter,” Veronica replied.

“Good enough for me.” She cackled with pride. “Good game.”

“Whatever,” Chandler muttered, crossing her arms. Duke scoffed.

“We would have won had you not already chugged a whole bottle of beer before we started.”

“First of all, it was one and a _half_ ,” she retorted. “Second of all…”

Heather watched as Duke leaned forward, waiting for her to complete her sentence.

“Hm?”

“I dunno where I was going with that.”

“Wait, where are you going?”

Heather’s brain suddenly tuned into Veronica’s voice.

“The music room. JD and I will be in there if you need us.”

“You don’t have to hide, you know,” Veronica said.

“Oh, I know. Don’t worry.” She turned around and made her leave, pushing through the crowd as she waved. “See ya around.”

Once they disappeared out of sight, Veronica swirled around towards Chandler and stumbled over towards her with a smug grin.

“I hope you can forgive me for destroying you in that game,” she said snidely. Chandler shot back with a scornful huff.

“It was very close. There’s was no _destroying_ , as you call it.”

Veronica snorted. “Whatever keeps you going.”

Chandler narrowed her gaze. “I could beat you at any other challenge you throw at me.”

Veronica’s brow piqued with interest. “Is that so?” She loomed closer to her, the tip of her nose growing inches apart from Chandler’s. The closer she got, the more Heather’s chest tightened watching them, fully aware of the numerous eyes that could land on them in that very moment.

“That _is_ so,” Chandler growled, a smirk appearing on her face. At a closer look, Heather saw her blue eyes flickering up and down Veronica, as if she were trying and failing to not look at her lips. Granted, she could hardly blame her, Veronica looked _hot_ with dark purple lipstick on, but when she was in a position where she could see all the potential witnesses to something a little bit too gay, she couldn’t help but feel a growing urge to shove herself between the two of them.

“Fine,” Veronica said, tilting her chin up. “What did you have in mind?”

Chandler, smirking, had the guts to hold her chin up with her finger. A blush was definitely forming on Veronica’s cheeks.

“I dunno. You’re meant to be the expert at party things.”

“Alright then.” She retracted her hand. “How about we start with something simple? Shots.” She leered at her. “Hopefully your stomach can take it.”

The distance between their lips was shrinking, while the amount of heads turning towards them was growing. Heather bit her lip anxiously, wondering if she should interject.

“Alright!” a yell from Ram interrupted her thoughts. “Shot contest! Kurt, go get the girls some tequila.”

Chatter from the rest of the crowd grew louder with excitement, and soon enough everyone was drained from the room, only leaving the Heathers and Veronica behind. Granted, Veronica and Chandler weren’t planning on sticking around.

“It’s settled,” Veronica said with a low chuckle. “Shall we?”

She held out her hand to Chandler. A dumb move on her part, Heather would have usually said. Chandler would never _hand hold_ in public.

That is, until now.

“We shall.” She placed her hand gently on top of hers. “You’re going down, Sawyer.”

And to make matters worse,

“In other contexts, I quite like that idea.”

At least Veronica was smart enough to keep her voice down, but even then, someone _could_ have overheard them. Hell, someone could just look back into the room and see Chandler bite her lip as she held Veronica’s stare, or see the glint of lust in Veronica’s mocha gaze.

Heather didn’t even realise she was holding her breath until the two of them made their leave. She let out a long winded sigh, then looked over to Duke.

“Heather?” she asked. Duke glanced at her. “Am I being paranoid, or are Veronica and Heather being _very_ obvious about… you know.”

“About being very horny for each other?” Duke replied, walking over to her side and leaning against the table, no anxiety constricting her movements at all. “They’re not exactly subtle, no.”

Heather clamped her hands together, tapping her index fingers against each other. “Aren’t you concerned? I mean, someone might catch on.”

Duke raised a brow and shrugged. “Not really.”

“But… what if someone _does_ catch on?”

“They won’t.”

“But you said-”

“Emmy,” Duke cut in, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Everyone’s already pretty drunk, and those two are just loosening up after chugging down a few cups of beer, along with the cans of cider they had before. No one will suspect anything.”

Heather frowned, feeling nothing but doubt. “Are you sure? I mean, just because they’re drunk doesn’t mean no one will suspect anything-”

“You’re only paranoid about this because you know that they’re dating,” Duke said. “To a stranger, all they see is Heather Chandler putting on a show. Those two could literally start making out in the middle of the room for anyone and everyone to see and no one would suspect anything.” She rolled her eyes and looked towards the front room. “Trust me. Most of the guys in there would _love_ to see that. All it would be to them is a gift from the Gods. I mean, sure, it _could_ be used as gossip by some of the girls, but as soon as Heather’s sober, she’ll be able to brush any rumours off, no problem.”

Heather felt herself relax, and she nodded slowly.

“I guess.” She looked down at her feet. One of them was tapping. “I just worry about Heather especially. I know how insecure she is about that kind of thing.”

“About what?”

“You know…” She rolled her hands to prompt Duke to figure it out, which she eventually did.

“Ah.” She shrugged again. “That was years ago. I’m sure she’d be fine.”

“I hope so.”

Duke must have sensed the doubt still evident in her tone, since she sighed and walked around to the other end of the table to grab the remaining cup of beer. She slid it down to her end before making her way back over to her.

“You really need more drinks,” she said. “Emmy, isn’t this your birthday party? You should really loosen up a bit.”

Heather picked up the cup and looked down at the alcoholic liquid floating around, before taking a big gulp. Duke grinned.

“Atta girl. Now come on,” she grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the front room. “I wanna see how this shots contest plays out.”

Heather allowed herself to smile fondly at her girlfriend, and let her pull her to the front of the crowd. There she saw Veronica and Chandler kneeling on a rug with a glass table between them, along with several small shot glasses full of tequila, a plate of salt and some lime slices.

Ignoring the fact that they were sat a few feet away from the very spot that she and Chandler had shared their ‘first kiss’, she was able to stop herself from panicking. They were sitting across from each other. Any suggestive remarks they made towards each other were viewed as nothing but jokes; she could tell by the laughter from the crowd. On top of all that, the beer she continued to steal sips from was helping her emotions cool off. Everything was fine. Nothing was real. Not to everyone else, anyway.

And yet, no matter how many times she told herself that, something held herself back from finishing her drink.

* * *

“Fuck this.”

Heather slammed down her fifth shot glass and wiped her mouth, not caring if her red lipstick smudged.

“You giving up already?” Veronica jeered.

“No, this is already getting old. I need a bit of excitement.” She glanced around the crowd and called, “Anyone got any fresh ideas?”

“Oh! Oh!” She could hear a guy calling from the depths of the crowd, only his waving hand visible. “Do body shots!”

A wave of excited cheers sounded throughout the large group of teens surrounding them. When her eyes landed back on Veronica, she saw her raise her brow, looking as though she was silently questioning her. Chandler managed to catch on pretty quick.

_Is that okay with you?_

She gave a curt nod, and Veronica smiled.

_Looks like we’re doing this._

“Okay, so what are the rules here?” Veronica asked out loud. “I’ve never done body shots before,” she added with a whisper.

Heather couldn’t help but snort at her inexperience. “The way we do it is that you lose if you squirm.” She brushed some hair behind Veronica’s ear, then leaned forward. “Usually it’s because it’s ticklish, but I know that won’t be the case with you.”

She relished in how when Veronica’s shoulder touched hers, she could feel her shiver as she whispered into her ear, close enough that her breath would definitely be brushing against it. It took all of her drunken willpower to not lean in and nip at her lobe, despite how irresistable she looked with her cartilage piercing.

 _Fuck, am I into piercings?_ She moved away and tried not to bite her lip. _Since when?_

She quickly shook the thought off, just in time to see Veronica scoffing at her.

“Yeah, because _you’ll_ be able to control yourself,” she murmured with a smirk crawling onto her lips. Lips that she wanted to kiss. Right now.

“That’s big talk for someone who’s never done this before.” She eyed her up and down, gaining a sultry grin of her own., “Now take your shirt off.”

Satisfaction filled her when Veronica’s cheeks gained a pretty pink glow.

“Huh?”

“I need a bit more access.” She eyed the crowd. “Also, might as well give them what you want whilst we’re here.”

Veronica followed her gaze around the many teens gawking at her with stupidly excited faces. She could tell she wasn’t _thrilled_ that they’ll be seeing a bit more of her than usual, but she was quick to shrug it off and slip her black shirt off. She placed it on the carpet beside her and readjusted her bra straps so that they were securely holding onto her shoulders. Heather, however, wanted nothing more than to rip the damn thing off, push her onto the floor and slip her tongue into her mouth, not caring about the many eyes that would be watching, because _fuck_ , Veronica was far too beautiful to give a shit.

Somehow, though, she managed to stay put. Hopefully no one could see her digging her nails into the carpet or biting her lip. _Shit, I’m biting my lip_.

“Okay, shirt’s off,” Veronica said. “Now how about you?”

Heather raised a brow at her. “I’m wearing a dress,” she said. “With no bra underneath.”

“I see no issue!” someone yelled.

Heather would have rolled her eyes had Veronica not mumbled, “Me neither,” through gritted teeth.

“Not happening,” she said. Veronica pouted.

“Why, because you know you’ll fall apart if my tongue goes anywhere near your stomach?” she cooed, just loud enough for her to hear. Heather scrunched up her nose, but rather than thinking up a comeback, she instead placed one hand on the side of her jaw and tilted her head, exposing her neck.

“Let’s start simple, shall we?” Flicking some left over hair out of the way, she grabbed a lime slice and held it in front of Veronica’s mouth until she grabbed hold of it with her teeth, then took a pinch of salt from the plate and scattered a trail from her shoulder to just up her neck, as far as it would go without tumbling off. Veronica’s eyes widened with understanding as she shot her a devious smirk.

“You forget I know where your favourite places are,” she murmured, before leaning in.

As soon as her lips made contact, the sound around her suddenly fell quiet, even though she knew for a fact that everyone was ecstatically cheering, because of course they’d be happy to see two of the most attractive girls in the school getting touchy-feely with one another.

She could hardly pay attention to the commotion, though. She couldn’t when her lips trailed along Veronica’s shoulder, tongue lightly tracing her skin to lap up the grains of salt. Usually that would be her only goal. This time, though, she lingered just a little longer than usual, occasionally nipping and kissing ever so lightly. Partly because she knew that though no one would be able to notice, Veronica most certainly would, shown by her tensed up shoulders. But also, she just didn’t want this small moment of intimacy to be over so soon.

Which was weird, considering she knew she could do whatever she wanted with Veronica once this party would be over. She was able to wait a few hours, right?

Tasting no more salt, she reluctantly gave a final bite just below her ear, earning her a muted yelp. Smiling proudly, she grabbed a shot of tequila and sipped the liquid with ease, before realising the hardest part of this task was about to begin. After swallowing, she stared at the lime in Veronica’s mouth, ready for taking. Usually, this part of the challenge would be easy. It was brief and simple. But now?

Now she was leaning forward, moving as slowly as she could, until her own mouth was close enough to grab the lime. That closeness was enough for her lips to touch Veronica’s, grazing them far too gently. She hadn’t even realised until she’d bit into the lime that she had closed her eyes, as if it were routine for her to do so, and when she fluttered them open, it seems Veronica did the same.

“Veronica passes this round!” Ram called. “Now pick somewhere to put the salt, ‘Ronica.”

Heather had to hold in a snarl. _That’s_ my _nickname for her._

“Alright.” Veronica grabbed her own pinch of salt, and immediately began to place it along her collarbone. _Fuck._

Once she placed a lime in her mouth, Heather gripped onto the carpet to hold herself still. She often had no difficulty; after so much practice, the sensation of someone’s tongue running over her body was easy to not pay attention to.

But now that it was _Veronica,_ the feeling of her tongue flicking along a place where she _loved_ being kissed was making it particularly difficult. Hopefully no one could see her fingers shifting and tapping anxiously as each lick almost made her whole body jolt and gasps escape her lips. Thank God a lime was blocking any sounds that threatened to escape.

Soon enough, the soft lips and wet tongue tracing over her skin left, and Veronica took a shot. Then, for fuck’s sake, this shit again.

This time she forced her eyes open, which was incredibly hard since Veronica allowed hers to flutter shut as she tilted her head to the side ever slightly. Whilst she went to grab the lime, her eyes, searching desperately for a distraction, landed on Mac, standing at the front of the crowd, not too far away from them. What caught her attention was the worried look in her eyes. She was nervously fidgeting the cup in her hands and chewing on her lip as she not only watched the two of them play their game, but also the rest of the teens watching. She grew curious as to what she could possibly be worrying about, but had no time to think about it, as soon enough, it was her turn once again.

This time, Heather opted to make Veronica lie on her back, so that she could sprinkle salt along her stomach. As she was doing so, she saw a bashful glint in Veronica’s eyes, and she knew she’d chosen well. Admittedly Veronica had been right before - she _was_ sensitive on her stomach, more than Veronica was. But the sensation wasn’t what she was going for here.

Spreading Veronica’s legs just enough so she could lie on her stomach, Heather heard a ripple of cheers as she settled at the top of the trail of salt, looking up at Veronica with a smirk. She was filled with pride when she saw her bite her lip, and refused to look away as she slowly made her way down, licking the salt off her toned stomach in a way that she hoped was painfully slow. And by how foggy Veronica’s gaze grew the closer she got to the hem of her skirt, she knew she was likely succeeding.

And yet, she didn’t squirm.

She didn’t move at all.

_Impressive._

After taking her shot and leaning over her to ~~kiss her passionately~~ take the lime out of her mouth, they moved onto Veronica’s turn. She went to put the salt on her cleavage, the fucking bitch.

As revenge, she proceeded to do the same, though it was a little less effective with her smaller chest.

And after neither of them moving still, Veronica finally came up with something that Heather wished she’d come up with first.

“How far are you willing to pull up your dress?” she asked. Heather blinked, speechless, only able to point to her hip. Veronica smirked as she gazed at her thigh. “Perfect.”

And so Heather had to pull up her fucking dress until half of it was unravelled just beneath her hip bone, revealing part of her underwear in the process. She heard many wolf whistles and whoops, she could only imagine the amount of guys popping a boner from the sight of a hidden piece of fabric. Usually she’d be amused. But no. This time she was fucking _bitter_ as hell.

Because when Veronica ran her tongue up her thigh, and finally reached her pelvic bone, of fucking _course_ she squirmed. Her hips bucked forward. Maybe she even whimpered a little. Listen, it’s not _her_ fault that none of the guys who she fucked before Veronica could do oral to save their damn lives. Of course she’s desperate to shove Veronica’s head down there.

“Veronica wins!” Kurt yelled as Veronica took the victory shot and quickly grabbed the lime, before spitting it back out to reveal a wide, prideful grin.

“No one’s been able to beat Heather Chandler!” Kurt continued, stepping into the circle to hold out his hand, hoping to lift Veronica onto her feet. She refused, opting to stand up herself, though when a few other boys gathered around to chant her name, she happily welcomed it.

Heather, on the other hand, disgruntledly shoved her dress back over her thigh and stood up herself, wobbling a little on her heels. Fucking Veronica. Stupid, smug, pretty, gorgeous, bastard Veronica. Beating her at goddamn _body shots_.

“How did you do it?” she heard some ask.

“Have you ever played this before?” another said.

“You need to show me how to beat her!”

 _She cheated,_ she thought. _By being attractive as hell and knowing full well I want to fuck her._

Not that she would accept that as an excuse from Veronica if she’d won, but whatever.

“Wow, congrats on losing,” another voice sounded. She scowled and turned around to face Duke.

“You know full well why I lost,” she hissed. Duke just cackled.

“Veronica’s turned you soft,” she said, and Heather could only blush. Angrily. It was an angry blush.

“I am not _soft._ I’m as hard as ever.”

“Yeah, I’m sure if you had a dick we’d see it in full view right now.”

“Hey!” Her face burned. “I’m sure I’m not that turned on.”

Duke eyed her up and down doubtfully.

“Okay, so usually I’d be opposed to finding out,” she said, “but I’m honestly _really_ curious.”

Heather scorned at her. “Fine!” She glanced around the room. No one was looking in her direction, from what she could see. Even if they were, they’d just assume she needed to itch or clean her thigh after that fucking game. Then, she quickly shoved her hand under her dress and underwear.

And squeaked.

“I…” She gulped as she wiped the moisture off on her inner thigh. “Let’s not talk about this again, shall we?” Her hand returned, and Duke stepped back.

“God, at least wash it,” she said with a gag. “Who knows how much was on there?”

“I do.”

“...How much?”

“I’m too embarrassed to say,” she muttered, and Duke laughed again. Heather frowned. “Fuck you.” She then quickly sniffed her hand. “Now, thanks to you, I need to go clean. I’ll be back.”

As she pushed through the crowd to make her way to the kitchen, she was sure there was something she wanted to do first, but her drunken head seemed to have forgotten.

That is, until she was a fair distance away from the group and caught a glimpse of Mac, standing near Veronica. She considered going back and asking her what was wrong, but the worried look she’d seen in her eyes before looked to be gone. She brushed it off.

_I’m sure she’s fine._

* * *

“Veronica?”

“Mhmm?” Veronica’s head poked through her top as she slid it back over her body. Heather looked around the crowd before speaking. They’d all began to clear off, but just to be safe, she took her hand and pulled her over to the side.

“Something wrong?” Veronica asked. Heather shook her head.

“No, no, I just…” She glanced back to the other teens, making sure no one was eavesdropping. “Don’t you think you’re being pretty explicit?”

“Explicit? How so?” She straightened out her creased shirt. “If you mean with the whole shirtless thing, it was kinda fun. Maybe it’s because of the alcohol I’ve drank, but there was something kinda thrilling about it.” She giggled a little. “I’m starting to see the appeal about… well… sex appeal.”

“No, no, I don’t mean that.” She patted her shoulder. “You did great and I enjoyed watching the whole thing.”

“I’d hope so,” Veronica teased, resting her hip against the wall. “But then what’s the problem?”

“Well… it’s about you and Heather. You were both really… intimate?” She twiddled her thumbs. “I just worry that it’s obvious to people.”

Veronica stared at her blankly.

“It was just a game, Heather. You’ve been to parties with Heather before, you’re telling me she’s never done anything like that?”

“Well, no, she has-”

“So it’s fine, I’m sure!” She stumbled forward and rested an arm on her shoulder. “Stop worrying, Mara! It’s your birthday party too.” She tapped her on the nose and giggled.

“Do you know where Heather went, by the way?”

“Probably hiding from everyone in shame that she lost that game to a newbie.”

“Perfect. I’m gonna go boast about it.” As she walked past her, she let her arm hook around her neck so that it was wrapped around her in a hug. She felt her rest her chin on her head. “Though at some point we should definitely dance together or something.” Her fingers twirled around in her hair. It felt nice. “Or we can play some game together. I think that would be fun.”

Then her hold left her. “Anyway, I’m gonna go find Heather. See if she wants to lose at anything else.” She blew a kiss, before spinning around. “See ya!”

“Mhmm. Bye.” Heather let out a sigh, stepping back to let herself lean on the wall behind her. However, when she fell back, it wasn’t a hard surface that caught her.

“Glad I could finally catch you alone.” Oh no.

Heather forced herself to make eye contact. “What do you want, Kurt?”

“Oh, not much. Just some time with you.” He smiled in a failed attempt to appear sweet. Heather just sighed and stepped away from the hand that she had fallen into.

“That’s definitely not all you want,” she said. “What are you after?”

“But it is! Heather, we’ve hardly spoken these past few weeks. I think this might be the first time we’ve spoken since the new decade began!”

Heather didn’t bother making herself look saddened by the fact. “That’s unfortunate,” she muttered.

“I’m so glad you agree,” he said. “Say, you doing anything right now? Because a few other guys are finding some dance partners and I was thinking that we could-”

“No,” came out of her mouth as soon as she took one glance over to the dance floor, where girls were busy shaking their behinds against guys, and where guys were busy grinding on girls. It wasn’t that it didn’t look fun - it _did_ \- but it was that she wouldn’t be able to enjoy with Kurt as her partner.

“Why not?” Kurt’s shoulders slumped. “C’mon, Heather. It’s been a while since we’ve had any sort of fun together. You were never this uptight-”

“Kurt, am I wrong to assume that you’re hoping this will turn into a hookup?” she asked dryly. “Because if so, I’m not interested.”

“Well… no.” Kurt rubbed his arm. “But don’t you at _least_ want to dance?”

“Nope.”

He fell quiet for a moment.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “ _Loads_ of girls would love to be asked out by me! I mean, I’m a _catch_ , not to brag.” He gestured to himself. “So why don’t you even wanna be seen with me? Have you turned lesbo or somethin’?” Heather grinded her teeth together uncomfortable, and continued to do so when he kept going. “Usually girls would be honoured, y’know?”

“Kurt, just because a girl doesn’t like you doesn’t mean they’re a lesbian!” The words came out bitterly as she thought, _but he’s right._

“Not like me? But we have history!”

“History that should have never happened!” Heather stepped away from him. “Both of us made a drunken mistake and tried to make it so it wasn’t a mistake. I realised it wasn’t working, so I _stopped_ .” She breathed heavily. “Why can’t you get it through your head that I want nothing to do with you anymore?” _I never did._

Kurt stared at her, bewildered. “Oh come on,” he whined. “You’re not gonna make it work with that attitude.”

“Make _what_ work? Hookups? We never dated!”

“But Heather-”

“Kurt, I understand that this is a big wound to your ego, but go and vent about it somewhere else, alright?” Heather was flooded with relief when she heard the sound of Duke’s voice grow closer, and as soon as she stepped in between the pair of them, she latched onto her arm quickly. Duke gazed up at Kurt calmly.

Kurt frowned. “We weren’t finished talking.”

“Yes you are. Bye, Kurt.” She waved with a smile. “Besides, didn’t you bring your own dates along with you?”

“Uhh… those are my cousins,” he murmured sheepishly. “Ram and I thought we’d catch a few babes if it looked like we already had dates.”

“Wh-” Duke shook her head. “I don’t understand boys. Anyway, isn’t your mother from Alabama?”

“Yeah?”

“Them being cousins shouldn’t be a problem. Run along, now.”

Kurt closed his mouth at last, then turned away, disappearing into the crowd. Heather let herself rest on Duke’s shoulder.

“You’re welcome,” Duke said, glancing at her. “Are you feeling okay, by the way? You’ve been looking pretty tense ever since that game of shots.” She moved her shoulder out from under her chin. “You’re not still worrying about people finding out, are you?”

Heather didn’t respond. She’d hardly been listening. All she could really focus on is what Kurt had said.

_“So why don’t you even wanna be seen with me? Have you turned lesbo or somethin’?”_

Her fingers apprehensively fidgeted with her dress. _So, what, don’t I get a say in what I get to enjoy? Am I just here for_ his _enjoyment?_ Her eyes flashed up at Duke.

“Emmy, you okay?” she heard Duke speak again, but she still didn’t respond. Instead, she grabbed her hand and pulled her away, out of the front room and out of anyone’s sight, only stopping under the dark shadow of the black spiral staircase. There, she held Duke against the railings as she leaned forward to catch her lips in a rough, almost vengeful kiss.

Duke let out a muffled yelp when they made contact, and for several moments, didn’t stop her. For the first few seconds, she kissed back, placing her hand on her hip ever so gently, a style of kissing she had never expected to come from her, but enjoyed nonetheless. It contrasted to the many rough, needy hands she’d forced herself to endure throughout the years, especially from fucking _Kurt_.

But then she was shoved away. She opened her eyes, blinking as she tried to escape her confused daze. She saw Duke deeply inhale.

“That’s… that’s not a good idea, Emmy,” she panted. Heather frowned.

“Why not? You said that no one will think it’s real.” Her tone saddened. “That they’d think it was all for show.”

“I know, but that only really applies when… there’s an audience?” She glanced around the empty hallway. “Because then it looks like an actual _show,_ y’know. But now…” she gestured around the room, “there isn’t anyone to watch. If someone where to find us by accident, they won’t think it’s for show. They’ll think it’s very real.” She scratched the back of her head. “Which… it is.”

Heather had to swallow the painful feeling rising in her throat. “So you’re saying I can only enjoy _this_ when other people can enjoy it too?” she muttered. “I’m not allowed to enjoy my relationships for myself?”

Duke winced. “I don’t like that fact either, but yeah. That’s how it works.” She stepped forward and caressed her arm. “Sorry, M, but that’s just how the world works.”

“That’s stupid,” she snarled. “And unfair.”

“I know.” Duke paused for a moment. “But hey, I did enjoy… that.” She nodded to where she’d been pinned up against the railings. “It was nice. _Thrilling,_ even.” She awkwardly shuffled away. “Um… I didn’t expect it to feel like that. Do you want a drink?”

Heather didn’t pay attention to the topic change. “I’ll be with you in a minute.”

She saw Duke frown, but she didn’t try to argue.

“I’ll be in the main room.”

She watched her go, and Heather let out a long, frustrated sigh.

 _None of this is fair,_ she wanted to yell. _I shouldn’t just exist for other people’s entertainment! What about_ me?

“Hey, Heather!”

She jumped at the sound of Martha’s voice. She glanced at her, and saw she held a baking tray in her hand.

“I finished this a while ago, then when you didn’t come back I decided to slice up the pieces. Is this okay?” She held out the cake, showing her the many small, but still satisfactory slices. Heather nodded, trying to make herself appear chippy.

“Yeah, those look great!” She began to make her way over to the front room slowly. “We’ll take it to the snack table.”

“Alright!” Martha followed her, sticking close to her side. “Say, um I was wondering, um… what’s it like to get drunk?”

Heather raised her brow. “Why?”

“I’m just curious! I don’t plan on doing it, by any means.”

“Oh.” She hummed thoughtfully. “Well, it’s kinda like… everything sways? Not just your vision. I mean, _all_ your senses sway.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. You just… lose your balance with everything. Including your actual balance. It’s fun, up until you begin to feel sick.”

“Oh.”

“But anyway.” They returned to the front room. “Your sparkling cider should be on the drinks table. No one will have touched it, at least not on purpose.” She pointed to the table covered in half-empty bottles, some of them rolling on their sides as guests ravaged through the choices to fill their cups.

“Thanks!” Martha said, placing the cake down on the snacks table. “Also, do you know where Betty-”

“Hey, Dump- uhh, Dunnstock!” Heather groaned at the sound of Ram’s voice cutting off her sentence.

 _What now?_ She turned around and saw him proudly striding over to them.

“Um… hi, Ram,” Martha said timidly. Heather just wanted to groan.

“Hey, I was just wondering,” Ram began, standing in front of her, standing tall. “Do you wanna dance with me?” He held out his hand towards her, and Heather could only stare at him, dumbfounded.

Not to sound mean, but Ram would _never_ ask her to do such a thing, especially with so many people around.

 _It’s a joke,_ she realised. _Kurt’s probably laughing somewhere._

She was about to whisper to Martha to say no, to save herself from humiliation, knowing that there was no way she’d pass up such an opportunity to dance with her _popular_ crush. She panickedly turned towards her, opening her mouth to speak, but opened it a second too late.

“No thank you.”

Heather widened her eyes. Ram’s eyes were even wider.

“Huh?” Ram deadpanned at her. “I’m not trying to prank you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Heather rolled her eyes. _Yes you are._

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m gonna have to decline.” She stepped back and smiled sweetly.

Ram honestly looked _offended_.

“You’re really declining a dance with _me?_ ”

“Yep.”

“But… but you’re _you_ . And I’m _me._ ” He pointed to himself. “Weren’t you violently swooning over me for years? What gives?”

“You’re right. I was.” She nodded. “But I’m just not interested anymore. Sorry.”

Ram opened his mouth to retort something back, but having heard enough of the same thing being said in one night, Heather spoke up.

“Ram, she’s not here to be the butt of anyone’s joke, especially not yours. She’s a guest, because she’s Veronica’s friend.” She pulled Martha away from home. “Just leave her alone.”

Thank God that seemed to be enough, since he said nothing in reply, just walked away to be accompanied by Kurt, laughing hysterically at him.

“Man you just got _rejected_ my Martha Dumptruck!” she heard Kurt cackle. “You must feel _pretty_ embarrassed right now.”

“Shut up, Kurt!” Ram barked, before they both disappeared into the crowd.

Martha then turned to Heather and smiled. “Thank you.”

Heather shrugged and smiled back. “It’s no biggie. But I’m confused, did you actually want to dance with him, or-”

“Oh, no. I’m pretty much over him.” Martha glanced to where he had walked away. “I do still hope there’s some good in him. I think there’s good in everyone.” She looked back to her. “But I don’t like the person he is now, and I don’t know if he will actually change. I decided to stop sitting around and hoping for something that may not happen.”

Heather slowly nodded. “Well… good for you. And you’re right, he is a dick. I don’t think we can really change that.”

“I don’t really want to,” Martha said with a chuckle.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “We’re not responsible for making him better.” She then stepped towards the snack table. “You want any cake?”

“I’d love some!”

* * *

So Heather may have lied about going to the front room. That was the intention, but the loudness was far too distracting when all she wanted to do is think about being pushed into the railings of the stairs with Emmy’s lips on hers, her hands firmly gripping her and maybe a leg edging between her own-

 _What the FUCK!_ Her eyes remained locked with the reflection staring back at her accusingly. _I don’t get it. Am I actually_ horny?

Then she took another sip of her drink and laughed to herself.

 _Is this how Heather feels all the time?_ She snickered. _Poor girl._

Then she stared back at her reflection.

 _This shouldn’t be a shock. You’re a lesbian. You like girls, right? You’re dating one._ She leaned forward.

“I feel like I should have felt something some time ago.” She frowned. “Why is getting horny _difficult?_ ” Her head drooped. _You know, without the help of erotic literature. And even_ that’s _difficult to get into._

She groaned and turned away from her reflection. It’s fine, she told herself. This is a step forward.

_Perhaps I’ve finally stopped being a fucking prude._

She let out a content sigh.

Then her eyes flashed open.

 _I didn’t think any of this through._ Her eyes fell, staring at her crotch with fear. _How am I meant to explain_ that?

Then she took another gulp of her drink. Now wasn’t really the time to think about this. No, go back outside, have some fun. Stop worrying about your non-existant sex life.

She turned the door knob, before freezing.

 _But what if it_ does _come into existence?_

She shook her head. No. Have this crisis another time. A better time.

She made her way back downstairs, listening to the noise growing louder and louder with each step that she took. Once she stepped onto the wooden floor at the bottom of the stairs, though, the raving coming from the dreaded front room suddenly felt a little too overwhelming to throw herself into again. She hummed in thought, looking around the long hallway as she wondered where to take herself, if not for a little while.

 _Surely the music room is quiet,_ she wondered, turning around and walking down towards the door. Soon enough she was there, and she couldn’t hear any loud talking coming from inside.

But when she stepped into the room, it wasn’t empty.

And you know what? That would have been fine. Of course there will be a few other people wanting to get a bit of peace and quiet elsewhere, but also may still want a bit of company. Just a few friends sitting together, rather than one person staring up at the ceiling as their alcoholic drink overcame all their senses.

So finding Betty and JD sitting in this room wasn’t a shock. What _was_ a shock, however, was the fucking _pen_ that Betty held in her hand, a pen attached to a goddamn wire, plugged into an extension lead. She was holding that pen against someone’s arm - a complete stranger, mind you.

“Oh fuck, we’ve been busted,” Betty said, staring back at Heather like a stunned rabbit. Heather could only blink at her, dumbfounded.

“What the _fuck_ is going on here?” she asked, taking another hesitant step into the room.

“Veronica’s punk friend’s givin’ me a tattoo!” the guy holding out his arm said happily. “She’s drawin’ a dragon!”

Heather’s eyes only widened.

“What?” She stared at the tattoo, close to being finished. “ _What?_ ”

“Hold on, let me finish this client,” she said, before returning to his arm. As soon as the buzzing started up again, Heather looked away, unable to watch the needle draw on anyone’s skin without hurling.

“ _Client?_ ” she echoed is dismay. “Betty, do you even know _how_ to tattoo someone?”

“Hey, tattoos are expensive,” Betty said. “I learned to do them myself. The only ones I didn’t do for me are the ones on my back.”

“You’re not eighteen!”

“So?”

“Don’t question it, Heather,” JD spoke up. “Did you need something?”

“I… no. I was just going to sit here for a bit.”

“You’re welcome to,” JD said. “We’re all Veronica’s friends here.”

“Mhmm. Alright.” She scooched her way around the couch where Betty sat, and avoiding the chair which JD was splayed across, and grabbed a random book from the bookshelf. She didn’t plan on reading it, she just needed a distraction from… whatever was going on.

“There we go. All done,” Betty eventually said, and the buzzing stopped. “That’ll be thirty dollars.”

Hearing the topic of money made Heather lift her head from the book. The boy looked scared for a moment, before she laughed.

“I’m kidding. It’s on the house.”

The ‘client’ sighed with relief, then left without another word, with a brand new, likely bloody tattoo under his sleeve.

“Betty,” she said, making her turn towards her. “Was he drunk?”

“Yes.”

“You just gave him a tattoo. A permanent image on his skin.” She narrowed her eyes. “He didn’t consent to that.”

“I know. That’s the idea.” She turned around to face her. “You think I like anyone at this party? You think I _wasn’t_ going to take advantage of that fact that everyone here is drunk and get revenge on all of Westerburg for being shit?” She grinned. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing is immoral, but no one at this school can claim to be a perfect angel. Except for maybe Martha.”

Heather crossed her legs and put her book back down on her lap, suddenly interested.

“And you realise that one of the most popular people in school just discovered your little plan?” she said. Betty shrugged.

“Do you have a problem with what I’m doing?”

Heather blinked at her, then at the door, and then at her again. Wordlessly, she leaned back in her chair and folded her arms, waiting for the next person to walk into the room and ask Betty to permanently mark their skin without having the full capacity to make such a decision.

Because she too despised almost everyone in this school, and wished for something bad to happen so, so many of them.

“Are the tattoos you’re giving people bad?” she asked.

“No, but I’m not exactly asking them if they’re sure they want to make such a big decision,” she said. “I’m only evil enough to give them a tattoo they didn’t remember asking for. I’m not evil enough to give them something awful attached to them forever.”

“I see.” She nodded. “Carry on.”

“You’re not gonna stop me?”

Heather shook her head. “Nope.” Then she stood up. “Though, I am gonna get another drink. Anyone want one?”

“Can’t,” JD said.

“I will,” Betty said. “Grab me a can of cider?”

“Will do.”

* * *

Things were getting a little bit hazy.

When Heather walked, she wobbled slightly, and tended to stick near the walls to support herself instead of letting herself stumble through the many other teens crowding around her.

She’d finally allowed herself to drink a little more, in hopes that it’ll make her forget her worries and that she’d just enjoy her birthday party, and while it would occasionally work, for the most part she was letting her emotions get the best of her.

And right now, she was letting herself get distracted with Veronica and Chandler, both laughing drunkenly as they danced together with ungraceful footing. Often their hands would graze over places a little too intimate, or one would lean into the other’s ear to whisper something seductive. Not that Heather heard what they said, she could just tell by their sultry expressions.

She had began to wonder if joining in would stop her from worrying so much, but she didn’t get a chance to decide, as soon enough Chandler leaned over to whisper something In Veronica’s ear. Veronica smirked and nodded, and the two linked hands and made their leave. Curious and concerned, Heather left her place by the wall and hurried after them, following them down the hallway and then through the kitchen.

She paused just around the corner, in view of the back door that was now closing. She could see clearly through the glass windows that covered the door, and her heart sank in seeing that Heather and Veronica had chosen the most obvious, clear place to begin a makeout session. Couldn’t they at _least_ go behind the hedge?

Chewing on her lip, Heather considered stepping out from her hiding place and confronting them. But what would she even say? She had no idea how to even begin.

Luckily, but also unlucky for her, she didn’t need to think about it for much longer. Footsteps and chatter could be heard from some girls near by, and their voices were growing closer.

“God, I should’ve eaten before coming here.” Fuck. That sounded an awful lot like Ashley.

“Yeah, now someone’s gonna have to clean up your vomit off the toilet seat,” she could recognise that as Courtney’s voice. “Now come on, I’m sure there’s a mint or something in the kitchen.”

 _Fuck!_ Out of all the people that had to come _here_ at this very moment, it was _them_.

 _Think, think…_ Her eyes darted around the room drastically, wondering what excuse she could come up with to keep them away. Then, her eyes landed on a stray glass sitting on the edge of the counter.

 _Sorry, Heather,_ she thought as she darted over to it and shoved it off, watching it shatter all over the floor.

She then ran back around the corner and, surely enough, almost bumped right into the pair, who jumped at her sudden presence.

“Hey, sorry, could you both come back later?” she said, blocking their path. “There’s shattered glass in the kitchen, so kind of a health hazard.

Courtney tilted her head, but didn’t look as though she were going to question her. Hopefully. Ashley, however, seemed a little suspicious.

“Can I not just go and look for any gum?” she asked dryly. “Not to be gross, but I have vomit breath, and it needs to be sorted as soon as possible.”

“Oh. Uhh… no, there’s no gum in there.”

“Mints?”

“Nope.” She pointed to her mouth. “How about just rubbing a bit of toothpaste on your teeth?”

Ashley rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous, but clearly there’s no _other_ option, is there?”

“Thanks, Heather,” Courtney said.

“Mhmm.” She hardly acknowledged them, instead gestured for them to make their leave. They soon enough did, and she could let out a relieved sigh.

Then she spun around and stormed over to the back door, swung it open and stepped outside.

“Could either of you at least _try_ to be any more subtle?” she barked. Veronica and Chandler, having _still_ been busy with each other, jolted apart in surprise. It was then did she see the brand new large purple marks that had appeared on Chandler’s neck. She gaped at them. “You’re not even _trying_ to hide anything!”

“Huh?” Veronica asked, blinking at her cluelessly.

“All night I have been worried sick that someone is going to catch on!” She slammed the door behind her so she could lean back against it. “You two would have been caught had I not been here! And by Courtney and Ashley, no less!”

Both of them still seemed a little confused, likely due to the excessive amount of alcohol they had both drank.

“Mara, you sound pretty mad,” Veronica slurred, stumbling towards her. “Did we do somethin’ wrong?”

She reached a hand out to her, but Heather turned her nose up at it. “It’s just…” She bit her lip, averting her gaze. “I thought all of us were worried about being found out by everyone? Don’t either of you remember the conversation we had before? I thought we said we weren’t gonna make anything obvious.” She pressed her head against the cold glass in an attempt to cool herself off. “So the entire night I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen, but you two have just…” She rubbed her temples. “You’ve put me on edge. A lot. And like I just said, you nearly got caught.”

Veronica blinked at her a few times.

“Sorry,” she said, her voice still a little slow. “We should’ve been more careful. Thanks, Mara.”

Veronica smiled at her gratefully, but when Heather didn’t smile back, the corners of her mouth fell.

“Are you okay?”

She pursed her lips. “No.” Her head raised to finally look at them both. “Because I… I feel like you both enjoy being openly sexual and flirting with boys and whatnot. Especially you.” She gestured to Chandler, who just twirled some of her hair around her finger. “And I don’t want to stop that! You both actually _like_ doing all of that, but I don’t. So I guess…” She sighed, her leg bouncing up and down. “What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to be the one stopping you from enjoying yourselves.”

“What are you talking about?” Chandler asked.

“Yeah, I don’t see how you’re holding either of us back.” Veronica’s tone had notably sped up, a sign that she was beginning to sober up at least a little.

“I’m saying that you can both still go out there and date whoever you want! You’re actually able to enjoy a guy’s company, whereas for me I just…” Her shoulders slumped. “I can’t do that. I can’t _enjoy_ myself like you both can! So if either of you wanted to drop our relationship to go be free then you can,” she said weakly. “I’d understand. Being closeted sucks.”

Veronica and Chandler fell silent, and Heather just waited anxiously for their reply, feeling as though she were going to crumble if she was met with any more quiet.

“Mara, of _course_ I don’t want that!” Veronica exclaimed, running towards her to take her hands into a firm hold. “I understand how you feel. I’d love to be able to dance with you or Heather the same way all the other students can. I hate how it’s only acceptable for any of us to kiss when it’s for guy’s sex appeal.” She frowned. “It doesn’t matter that I can enjoy putting on a show for everyone, because I want to be able to show that it’s all real, y’know?”

“But you can be with any guy you want, Ronnie,” she said. “Why would you pick me over, y’know, being free?”

Veronica warmly smiled and cupped her cheek. “Because I love you,” she murmured sweetly. “I love both of you, and I don’t want to give that up for anything.”

Something warm and pleasant swelled in Heather’s chest as she spoke, and her worries seemed to fade the longer she gazed into Veronica’s eyes.

“Since we’re having an honesty hour,” Chandler suddenly spoke up, and they both turned towards her. She glimpsed at them both sheepishly. “I’ll admit, I miss being able to do whatever I want. Having to constantly remind myself to be careful is annoying and… obviously hard for me to remember.” She suddenly shoved her hand into her cleavage, pulling out a slip of paper that had been hidden under her dress. “I even put this fucking note here to remind me to not do stupid shit while I’m drunk and I _still_ wasn’t careful.”

“Why there?” Veronica nodded to her chest. “Do you not have a pocket?”

“No, but even if I did, it’s more effective when paper is jabbing your tits.” She shoved it back into her dress. “Point being, I chose to give that up. I’d rather be with both of you than have it again. Basically, everything Veronica said.” She gingerly looked away, and both Heather and Veronica giggled.

“You know, if you wanna go and flirt with boys again, I wouldn’t mind. I never had a problem with it before,” Heather said.

“Yeah, that would be fine by me,” Veronica added.

“I appreciate that, but I’m taking a break from boys,” Chandler said, and both Veronica and Heather gasped in shock. She rolled her eyes. “It’s not that surprising. It’s actually been pretty cathartic. They’re so _annoying_ when they’re teens.”

“You’re acting as if they’re gonna get any better,” Veronica said. Chandler just shrugged and crossed her fingers.

“Also, Mac, thanks for coming after us,” she said. “I’m… _really_ glad we weren’t caught.”

“It’s no problem.”

Chandler took a glimpse at the house, then back to her, and planted a kiss on her forehead. Heather giggled, and continued to do so when Veronica did the same.

“I feel like I’ve wasted a whole night worrying about this,” Heather confessed. “Can we make up for it?”

“By drinking?” Chandler guessed.

“And being overly affectionate on the dancefloor?” Veronica added.

Heather grinned and nodded.

“At least, more drinks for me,” she said. “You’re both _pissed_.”

“Hey, I sobered up for this conversation!” Veronica protested.

“That doesn’t mean you’re not drunk!”

“Can’t I have a _little_ sip?” Veronica whined.

“Just don’t _vomit_ anywhere,” Chandler muttered as they stepped back inside the house.

“Oh, speaking of which,” Heather said sheepishly. “I kinda had to break a glass to make an excuse as to why Ashley and Courtney couldn’t come in here.” She gestured guiltily to the shattered glass on the floor. Chandler froze, eye twitching.

“Please tell me it was a cheap glass.”

“Yes, don’t worry!”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, good.” She continued to walk past it. “I’ll deal with it later.”

“Why not now?” Veronica asked.

“Because we’re here to celebrate both of your eighteenths, girls, stop being so fucking stuck up!”

And with that, Heather and Veronica were both shoved back into the party, handed full cups of the strongest alcohol they found on the table, and quite possibly got a little bit too handsy with one another.

But whatever, Heather thought, because she’ll deal with it later.

Right now she just wanted to have a fun time.

* * *

“I dunno, it’s really weird, like, for some reason getting aroused is _really_ difficult?” Heather lamented, lying back on the couch, legs folded up to leave room for Betty who sat on the other end. Heather couldn’t see how she was sitting, due to leaning her head back over the arm of the sofa and staring up at the ceiling. “But then it suddenly hit me before. It’s gone now, obviously, but y’know. It was nice, but also confusing.” She sat up quickly. “Wouldn’t you think that if I was a lesbian, I’d be staring at a lot more girls than I do? But I can’t think of when the last time I looked at a girl’s tits was.”

Betty gave a nod of understanding as she drank her third… forth can of cider? She’d lost count.

“Nah, I get you,” JD spoke up. “I’m like that with romance. I mean, I suppose I could watch a romance film, but I wouldn’t _get_ it.”

“Uh-huh?” Heather rested on her hand as she listened, swirling the last of her drink around the bottom of the wine glass that she definitely didn’t steal from Heather’s cabinet.

“I’d be fine doing some sappy things here and there, I guess. Cuddling? Fine. Going on a date? Whatever. But the actual commitment? Not my thing.”

“I feel that way about sex!” she exclaimed. “Like… I’d _do_ it, but I’m just… not as willing as everyone else? It’s weird, I don’t get it.”

“So like, do you feel sexual attraction?” Betty asked. Duke blinked at her.

“Huh?”

“Like, you’re dating Nice Heather, right? Can you look at her and say she… I dunno, has nice curves or whatever?”

“I… yeah, I dunno. That’s what’s got me stuck. I thought that everything would be answered as soon as I started dating Heather. Like, oh, _that’s_ why I never liked being with guys. But sex is still pretty daunting, and I can’t say I’ve ever done that, no.” She sighed and slumped back against the couch. “It doesn’t really matter anyways. I don’t know how to tell her about… uh, y’know.”

“That’s a fair worry, but who knows? She may understand.” Betty shifted in her seat to look at her. “Just ask her how she feels about trans people, and if her answer’s positive, then got ahead and come out to her.”

Duke bit her lip, placing her glass on the floor.

“Can I confess something?” she said with a quiet voice.

“Uh-huh?” Betty replied. Heather breathed deeply as she sat back up.

“Okay so… I _am_ transgender, but it’s still a bit more complicated than that?” She ran her fingers through her hair nervously. “Heather’s been with people with dicks, so I don’t think it would be as much of a problem if I, y’know… had that.”

“Wait, you got surgery already?” Betty widened her eyes. “Fucking rich bitch.”

“No, no, I did not.” She glanced at her chest. “Not there, anyway.”

“My point still stands,” Betty muttered, rolling her eyes.

“You’re just jealous.”

“Yeah, no shit!”

Heather shrugged. “Fair.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, no, I didn’t get surgery there. I never _had_ a dick there? Or, not really? Uh…” She chewed on her lip. “You see, I’m actually intersex.” That last word came out as a mumble.

She waited for Betty to react, but she didn’t. She simply blinked a few times. Perhaps it was the alcohol.

“Oh,” she eventually said. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, no one outside my family does.” She rolled her eyes. “And, not to go into detail, but basically, my genitalia is pretty, uhh… what’s the right word… _ambiguous_.”

“...Ah.”

“I know, it’s weird.” She subconsciously pressed her legs together. “It’s why I haven’t let anyone take my clothes off.”

“No, no it isn’t weird!” Betty said quickly. “I just didn’t expect it.”

“Neither will Heather if we ever have sex.” She sighed and hugged her knees. “Have you ever dated anyone, Betty?”

“Only boys, before immediately backing out.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“I’m right here,” JD said dryly.

“You’re fine,” Betty said. “And usually I’d have good advice for someone struggling with their sexuality, but um… I’m not intersex, I don’t know how different your experiences are.”

Heather shrugged. “I’m just scared Heather will think I’m a freak.”

“Talk to her about it if it’s bothering you,” Betty said. “That’s what relationships are, right? Communication.”

“I’d love to be able to know, but I’ve never really liked anyone before Heather, never mind date them.” She sighed in defeat. “Worst comes to worst, I’m willing to go my whole life without sex. I’m not as hungry for it as everyone else in this fucking school is.”

“Heather?” Betty asked. She glimpsed at her.

“Hmm?”

“You said you relate to JD’s experiences about romance, but in a sexual sense. I was thinking… JD, you’re aromantic, right?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Maybe you’re just asexual,” she suggested. “You still feel romantic attraction, you probably still have a sex drive, but you don’t feel sexual attraction to any gender.”

Heather stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Am I supposed to pretend I’ve ever heard those words in my life?”

“No, because I just gave you the definition, you dumbfuck.”

“Right.” She tilted her head. “So you’re calling me a fucking plant?”

“ _No!_ It’s an actual sexuality! Like, bisexuality or homosexuality. It’s just the lack of sexual attraction!”

She blinked a few times, then opened her mouth to reply, but as she did so, the door swung open.

Expecting to see another poor sucker wanting a free tattoo, she turned around. Instead, however, she saw the three people who she definitely didn’t want to see discovering her having a deep and meaningful conversation with two people who she was probably not meant to associate with.

“ _There_ you are!” Emmy exclaimed, followed by a drunken-sounding laugh. At least she finally managed to loosen up.

“Have you been here this whole time?” Chandler muttered, leaning against the doorframe. “We thought you probably passed out upstairs.”

“Or in the bathroom, but we checked and you weren’t there,” Veronica said, stepping forward. She looked around the room, eyeing the many cans on the floor and empty alcohol bottles, before looking back at the trio in amazement. “Woah… are you guys _hanging out?_ ”

“The fuck,” Chandler slurred. “Heather, I’m kickin’ you from the group for thith- _this_.”

“ _What?_ ”

“I’m kidding,” she laughed. “But seriously, come to the front room, you’re _missing out_.”

“Missing out on what?” 

“Eh, go on and find out, we’ll be fine,” Betty said, gesturing for her to go.

“Uhh… no, Betty, JD, you’re coming with us,” Veronica said.

“Why?”

“Just…” Veronica stumbled over to the couch and grabbed them both to haul them onto her feet. “Come on, let’s go. You too.” She glanced at JD, who shrugged and stood up, standing behind the group.

“Should I be scared or excited?” Heather asked.

“Scared,” Veronica said.

“Excited,” Chandler snickered.

“Alright?” Completely clueless as to what she was being shown, Heather allowed herself to be led into the front room by Veronica, who seemed to have forgotten to let go of her sleeve, right up until they had all shoved through the crowd to get a clear view of whatever commotion was happening. Because whatever it was, it had caught a _lot_ of attention.

And as soon as they got a good view of it, Heather understood why.

“What the fuck,” is all she could croak out.

“ _What the fuck,_ ” Betty gasped, even more astounded than her.

JD said nothing. Perhaps it had rendered him speechless.

“Yeah, um, I don’t know what to think about it,” Veronica said.

“You see, none of you can blame _me_ for this. I was the one who bought her sparkling cider,” Emmy said.

Heather couldn’t bring herself to say anything more, being far too focused on the sight of Martha-fucking-Dunnstock, the biggest goodie-two-shoes and kindest of all hearts, standing in the middle of a circle, surrounded by empty beer bottles, aside from the one currently in her hand, being tipped into her mouth and breaking the legal drinking age law. Surrounding her were amazed and excited teenagers chanting her name - not even as a joke - the words ‘CHUG, CHUG, CHUG’ being yelled over and over again, followed by loud cheers once the bottle had been drained of all the beer inside.

“ _Woo!_ ” Martha cheered, throwing her hands into the air.

“Wow, she might actually come for Heather’s crown,” Duke snickered. As expected, Chandler whipped her head towards her, shooting her a dangerous glare.

“She didn’t drink all those bottles at once!” she snapped. “No way am I letting fucking _Martha Dunnstock_ overthrow me.”

“Aw, you used her actual name,” Veronica commented.

“Out of courtesy,” Chandler muttered.

“Guys, I’m kinda scared,” Betty said. “I don’t know how to stomach this.”

“Me too. Am I tripping?” Veronica said.

“I dunno, I’m quite enjoying this,” Chandler said. “It’s like watching a hippo win a race against cheetahs.”

“ _Hey!_ ” Betty spat. Chandler held up her hands in defense.

“I mean that in a nice way!” she said. “Hippos are actually very deadly.”

“Heather, just drop it,” Veronica muttered.

“Do we… do we stop her?” Duke asked. “That’s a lot of alcohol. Has she ever drank before?”

“Nope. Never. But it appears that she’s a heavy weight, so she should be fine,” Betty said, before glaring at Chandler. “Don’t make a joke.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“You were thinking it.”

Chandler pursed her lips.

“You know what, I vote we let her keep going,” JD said. “She’s having fun. So is everyone else.”

“Aren’t you concerned?” Veronica asked.

“I’m not her dad.”

“She doesn’t have a dad.”

“Yeah, she gets two moms and I don’t even get one. What’s with that?”

The group then fell quiet, focusing on all the attention that Martha was gaining from the strange shenanigans playing out before them.

“You know what?” Veronica said. “She’s having fun. We can let her be.”

“Does she know about hangovers?” Emmy asked.

Betty grimaced. “She will tomorrow, probably.” She took a step back. “But I should go back to the other room, I left my tattoo pen in there.”

“Your _what?_ ” Veronica spun around to face her.

“You heard me.” Betty smiled at her. “Why, you interested?”

Veronica clicked her tongue.

“I’ll get back to you on that one.”

* * *

“ _Fuck._ ”

That was the first thing Heather heard when she woke up. She would have opened her eyes to check on the girl lying next to her, but she was immediately hit with a dreadful headache. She didn’t dare find out what would happen if she opened her eyes and let light seep into her vision.

“Fuck indeed,” she muttered, burying her head into her pillow. At least it was soft, giving her _some_ comfort. “God, this is one of my worst hangovers yet.”

“It’s not my head that hurts,” she heard Veronica mutter from next to her. No, she didn’t remember falling asleep next to her, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew exactly how she got there. “Well, it does. A lot. But it’s my fucking _leg_ .”

“Your leg?” she grunted. “You probably slammed into the corner of a table with all that awful dancing you were doing last night.”

“It wasn’t _that_ bad!” she argued.

“Keep your voice _down!_ ” she hissed, wincing at her volume. In reality, it probably wasn’t that loud, but it was loud enough to make her ears ring.

“I forget you’re a real bitch when you’re hungover.”

“Yeah, and this bitch needs a hangover cure,” she snarled, finally lifting her head from her pillow and opening her eyes, at first with a simple squint. The light was indeed painful and far too much to take in, but she figured glaring at Veronica may raise her chances of getting her to do the chore for her. Blowing some frazzled hair out of her face and keeping herself up with her arms, still tucked under her chest, she attempted to shoot her a glare.

She was met with an awfully tired stare from Veronica, who also had disheveled hair and smudged eyeliner. Oddly enough, she found the messy appearance adorable.

“Can I let this headache calm its tits at least a little?” she groaned. “Then I’ll grab you whatever you need.”

“Make it five. This headache is killing me.”

She flopped back onto her pillow and closed her eyes to relax herself again. She ended up focusing on the pain in her body, trying to see if it was edging away, or making itself at home.

Unfortunately, it was the latter. She grumbled into her pillow, silently begging for it to ease off, but instead, it seemed to be _spreading_ , for some unknown reason. She began to become aware of an aching on her lower back, and she wondered if she’d fallen off her heels at some point, and she simply couldn’t remember.

_That’s very likely, actually._

“Fucking hell,” she heard Veronica grunt. “Why does my thigh hurt so much?”

“Must’ve been a table corner,” she muttered. 

“ _WHAT THE FUCK!_ ”

“ _Shut up!_ ” Heather barked, her head snapping up to glare at her. It was then that she paused, seeing that Veronica had rolled up her boxers and was staring at something that had not been previously there. Curious, Heather sat up, ignoring the pain in her head and in her lower back, and stole a closer look.

There on her thigh was a tattoo. It was only one colour, and was about medium size, enough to stretch across the width of her thigh, though granted, her thighs were pretty thin. Surrounding the drawing was red, irritated skin, showing just how new it was.

The tattoo itself? Heather could quickly recognise what it was. A long, thin flower with tiny buds as petals, a couple of them being carried by the wind. Admittedly, it was drawn beautifully with fairly delicate details.

And in recognising exactly what it was made her let out a snicker.

“ _Heather!_ ” Veronica carped. She only laughed more.

“You’re right, that’s what it is,” she cackled. She was met with a shove, which she allowed to happen.

“It’s not funny! I have a fucking tattoo that I _don’t remember getting!_ ” she griped.

“I appreciate your first tattoo being inspired by moi,” Heather said proudly, batting her lashes at her. Veronica huffed.

“Fine. It’s inspired by _Mara_ , not you.”

Heather frowned. “Rude.” She took another look at it. “I do have to ask where you got it though. We didn’t go to any nearby tattoo parlour, did we?”

“I don’t remember!” she exclaimed. “So much of the night is a _blur_.”

“Well, at least it’s in a place that you can easily hide,” Heather said, covering the tattoo back up with her boxers. “Your parents will never know.”

“My parents will be fine with it, especially since I’m eighteen. It’s the fact that I _don’t remember getting it._ Where the hell did it come from?”

“Oh, quit whining,” Heather said with an eyeroll. “Now you have a lovely reminder of your eighteenth.”

She then stretched her whole body, finding the cold air on her exposed skin soothing, and hearing many of her bones let out a satisfying click. She let her arms slump back on the bed, then twisted her spine. First towards Veronica-

_-Ouch._

She ignored the burning pain.

Then twisted her back the other way.

“Oh.”

Heather froze.

“What?”

She heard Veronica snicker. “Hey, Heather?”

She spun around to face her, worried by the amused look in her gaze.

“What?”

Veronica bit her lip.

“Maybe take a look in the mirror.”

_Oh no._

Hangover forgotten, she leaped out of bed and hurried over to her vanity, shoving her chair out of the way so she could get a clear view. She grabbed her hand mirror and hovered it around where she felt the pain in her lower back, and to her horror, there was indeed something there.

From what she could see from her shaky reflection, it was similar to Veronica’s, but also slightly different in shape. The flower seemed longer with slightly bigger petals, narrowing the closer it got to the end of its length.

“Aw, Heather, your first tattoo was inspired by me?” Veronica cooed from behind her. “That’s so sweet.”

“I’m _sorry?_ ”

“That’s a veronica flower. I know them from my mother’s garden.”

“ _What the hell!_ ” she screeched. “How the hell did that _get_ there!” She slammed her mirror back down on her vanity.

“I don’t- wait.” Veronica suddenly paused, and Heather widened her eyes.

“What?” She dashed back over to the bed and leaned forward. “Do you remember something.”

“I…” Veronica rubbed her temple. “I remember Betty mentioning she had a tattoo pen.”

Heather stared at her in stunned silence. She didn’t move for a few moments. She just heaved, in and out.

“A tattoo pen?” she said ever so softly, hardly even audible.

Veronica nodded. “Yeah.”

Heather released one final, calm and collected breath.

“ _I’M GOING TO KILL HER!_ ” she shrieked, swinging towards the door and launching herself towards it.

“Heather _no!_ ” Veronica yelled, throwing herself off the bed and slamming right into her, knocking her onto the floor. “ _I’m going to fucking DESTROY her_ ! That is if my parents don’t fucking destroy me _first!_ ” she continued to snarl, grappling at the floor like an angry cat in an attempt to escape Veronica’s hold. Unfortunately, she was too strong.

“Heather, calm down, this is your hangover talking.”

“No it fucking _isn’t!_ ” she barked. “That cunt gave me a permanent drawing on my fucking _body!_ ”

“In fairness,” Veronica said. “I think it’s pretty. I think it could do with some colour though.”

Heather looked over her shoulder to see Veronica gazing at her lower back from where she sat, that being her _upper_ back. She scrunched up her nose.

“Well I’m glad _you_ think so,” she muttered. “But what are my fucking _parents_ going to say?”

“You’re acting as if they’re gonna find out.”

“My favourite shirt is a fucking crop top. Of course they will.”

“Wear a blazer? A cardigan? And for that matter, your parents are hardly ever around!” she said. “I’ve never even met them!”

“Lucky you.”

“Is this a bad time?”

Both Veronica and Heather turned towards the door that had been opened up by Heather and Heather, both staring at the scene in front of them with confusion.

“We heard yelling,” Mac continued. “So we came to check if you were okay.”

“Is your hangover that bad?” Duke muttered.

“No, the problem is that I woke up with a _fucking tattoo!_ ”

“What?” Mac widened her eyes.

“We both did,” Veronica said, pulling her boxers up. “Take a wild guess what they are.”

Both of them hurried into the room to get a closer look.

“I think they look nice!” Mac said sweetly. It made Heather feel slightly better about it, but _still_.

“Holy _shit_ ,” Duke laughed. “You got a _heather_ tattoo?”

“Heather has a veronica tattoo, so we’re even.”

“You got matching tattoos!” Mac chipped. “That’s adorable!”

“No it isn’t,” Heather grumbled. “I didn’t consent to this tattoo being drawn on me.”

Duke let out a snort. Hmm.

“Veronica, why are you sitting on Heather?” Mac then asked.

“She’s threatening to murder one of my closest friends,” she said dryly.

“Because she _did this to me._ ”

“Yeah, probably should have warned you about that,” Duke said. Heather snapped her gaze up to meet hers.

“ _What?_ ”

“I kinda watched her give a load of people tattoos, may or may not have helped clean up any blood.”

“And you didn’t think to _tell me?_ ”

“I didn’t think _you_ would go and get a tattoo!” she argued. “Besides, I don’t even remember you getting it!”

“Yeah, _me neither!_ ” she spat as she tried to reach for Duke. What she was planning to do to her if she managed to grab her, she wasn’t entirely sure, but it didn’t matter, since Mac had joined Veronica in holding her down, keeping her pinned by the shoulder.

“Okay, okay, chill,” Mac cooed. “So last night was a little bit crazy. But I think you look _great_ with a tattoo, Heather!”

Heather glowered at her.

“Thanks,” she muttered, before letting out a long sigh. “Alright, I won’t kill anyone. You can let me up.”

“I don’t trust that,” Veronica said.

“Yeah me neither,” Mac added.

“Please don’t let her up without giving me a ten second head start at the very least,” Duke said.

“Ugh.” Heather rested her chin on the carpet. “As fun as last night was, I think Mac may have had a point about things getting a bit out of hand.”

“Hey,” Mac said, stroking her locks soothingly. She couldn’t hold back a content purr as she did so, hardly noticing both weights finally lifting from her. “We can worry about all of that later. How about we go grab some coffee and get rid of our hangovers in the meantime?”

Heather blinked up at her and sighed.

“I suppose.”

She could have whined when she stopped stroking her hair, though she appreciated her lending a hand to help her back onto her feet.

“ _Ah!_ ” Duke yelped as she stood up, turning away.

“What?” Heather frowned.

“You’re shirtless.”

Heather glanced down at her chest, which was indeed free.

“You act like that’s a bad thing,” she teased, hand on hip. “Most people would call you ungrateful for not wanting to see me like this.”

“I’m sure your two girlfriends would agree, but we’re not dating, so _put some fucking clothes on,_ ” Duke retorted, still covering her eyes with her back facing her. Heather snorted in amusement, glancing at both Veronica and Mac who were completely fine with the view, before going to fetch her robe, but not before whispering,

“Prude.”

Once it was on, she turned back around.

“You can look, I’m basically clothed.” She rolled her eyes, showing her (mostly) covered torso with a loosely tied robe. Duke dared to peek, and sighed with relief.

“Now can we go get breakfast? My head is _killing_ me.”

* * *

“Did I ever tell anyone about when Veronica burned an omelette she attempted to make for me?” Heather asked. Next to her, Veronica looked away with a reddened face, while Heather and Heather both laughed.

“Wow, nice one, Sawyer,” Duke cackled.

“I was trying to be _nice!_ ” she protested.

“Hush, I never said I didn’t appreciate it,” Heather said, lacing her fingers with Veronica’s. “You’re just bad at cooking.”

“Her mother did tell me on Christmas day about that one time she tried to make a cake, but accidentally put salt in the mixture instead of sugar,” Mac said with a giggle, followed by everyone gagging. Veronica blushed even harder.

“I was _fourteen!_ ”

“Apparently it was disgusting,” Mac added.

“Yeah, I bet,” Duke said, leaning back against Mac and snuggling against her neck, her hand holding the one arm wrapped around her waist possessively. That’s cute and all, but Heather was still getting soft, gentle thigh strokes from Mac’s other hand.

The four of them continued to laugh as they ate the pancakes that Heather had so generously made for them all (granted, she only made one for Duke, because she knew she wouldn’t want to eat anything if there was too much on her plate), however Heather couldn’t stop a nagging feeling at the back of her head.

No, it wasn’t her hangover, nor was it the need for sweet revenge on Betty for giving her a fucking tattoo whilst she was drunk. It was actually everything that happened last night, or at least, what she could remember.

The body shots, the seductive whispering, the makeout session that had happened as a result of said seductive whispering. It was all still so clear in her head, despite how drunk she had been.

She couldn’t help but wonder… _was Mac right to worry?_

She bit her lip as she gazed at her girlfriend, who had no indication in her expression that she was still concerned in any way. But why not? Now that they were all sober, doesn’t everything that she and Veronica had done, and god knows what else the three of them did when they got blackout drunk, isn’t _anyone_ else worried about how the rest of the party may have perceived them?

She wanted to think that it was okay. That everyone would assume it was all for show, all an act, like a game of Spin the Bottle. That no one would figure out who gave her the hickeys on her neck, despite them appearing right after she and Veronica had wandered off alone.

But she couldn’t help but worry that there might be the odd person who has a few suspicions. A few _very correct_ suspicions.

She shook her head, blocking out those thoughts.

She was being paranoid.

“Also,” she heard Mac say as soon as she zoned back into the conversation, “can you believe Kurt actually called me a lesbo last night?” She laughed to herself. “I mean, he’s right, but way to assume things just because I don’t like you, dipshit.”

Her heart sank. It sank _deep._

Oh.

So she _was_ right to worry.

Oh _no._

**Author's Note:**

> ffs Mac you put Chandler in a panic about her rep again now we gotta go through a whole fic of her trying to fix it 😔
> 
> https://heathersgameoftag.tumblr.com/


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